#364. Movie Buzz

1.In Brightest Trek ...
There's word on the Web that Chris Pine, soon to be seen as Cadet James T. Kirk in JJ Abrams' Star Trek reboot, could be cast as venerable DC Comics hero, the Green Lantern. With preliminary work on the superhero movie set to begin soon in Australia, the time would be about right for the producers to settle on casting the title role.If it's to be so, Pine would play Hal Jordan, a fearless Earthling chosen to be one of an elite corps of galactic peacekeepers.

Green Lanterns are given a special power ring which allows the wearer's willpower to manifest itself as a physical force. That is, if the Lantern imagines a giant fist bludgeoning his foes into the dirt ... voila! One oversized knuckle sandwich served hot 'n' green. Need a cage to corral some unruly Khund pirates? Coming right up!What about a cool script that will not make the concept seem too campy and unbelievable? Er, that one'll take a bit of doing ....

2. Warner swears off R-rated superheroes
With Watchmen taking an unfortunate nosedive at the boxoffice after a decent opening weekend, it appears that Warner Bros has decided against having any more R-rated superhero movies. The Movie Reporter website IESB.net quotes a source as saying that the studio observed that last year's big superflicks, The Dark Knight (US$1bil gross worldwide) and Iron Man US$582mil worldwide) were both PG-13 films. After R-rated comic-book movies like Punisher: War Zone bombed and Watchmen underperformed, it looks as if the future slate of DC movies - Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Flash as well as any other Batman or Superman films - will be firmly within the PG-13 bracket so families can throng the cineplexes to watch them. This would put those movies a little edgier than the family-friendly Fantastic Four movies from Fox, IESB noted. To be frank, Warner dudes, Watchmen would not have been worth one minute of screen time if it had been toned down to a PG-13.

3. Smart Little Fockers?
Pete Segal, who helmed Get Smart and the Longest Yard remake with Adam Sandler, is the leading choice to direct Meet The Parents sequel #2, Little Fockers. Trade paper Variety reports that Segal's schedule has freed up for him to direct the movie since the Get Smart sequel has been pushed back a year. The previous two movies, Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers, were directed by Jay Roach (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery).